The Willows Historic Inn

The Willows is a beautiful place: it was really peaceful sitting in the breakfast room, looking out at the desert landscaping and the little waterfall. It was neat to stay in the room where Einstein apparently slept when he visited. The problem was that the air conditioning didn’t work in our room. It wasn’t even that hot outside in April — just in the 70’s — but our room didn’t cool down with the AC running, which made it hard to sleep at night. Even leaving a window open didn’t cool the room down. We mentioned the issue when we checked out, and the staff member said to us, “You broke it by setting the thermostat below 70 degrees. Real AC freezes up in a block of ice and stops working when you do that,” he said. Well, not the AC on our house, or in most other hotels we’ve stayed at. And if the AC here needs special handling, why not put a sign near the thermostat? Other than that, we really enjoyed our stay. But, we won’t be back unless they redo their whole AC system. We also didn’t appreciate the reaction when we mentioned the issue; we just expected them to say they’d look into it, not that we broke it (lol).

The Willows is tucked away on a quiet road that’s an easy five minute walk to all the action. The grounds were immaculate, and there’s a winding path that leads up the hill behind the property where you can look over part of Palm Springs. We enjoyed the heated pool and jacuzzi. The whole place is like a huge mansion waiting to be explored. We stayed in the Cielito room which was on the upper floor and located in a quiet corner….highly recommend. The downside was the breakfast. When making the online booking, it asks you to enter any dietary restrictions. I noted that one person was a vegetarian and the other person (me) was a vegetarian and also didn’t eat dairy. Unfortunately, it seems they don’t accommodate dietary restrictions; their approach is just to remove the things you can’t eat from the three course breakfast. For me, this meant I couldn’t have the second course (a muffin that contained dairy), and I couldn’t have part of the third course (bacon). So I got a 1.5 course meal that barely filled me up at all. At a place this nice and for the price, I expected that they would have provided alternatives. Why ask if you have dietary restrictions if there’s no intention to accommodate? Also, the times for breakfast weren’t ideal for us. When we checked in on our first day, the lady who checked us in said that breakfast was from 8:30am - 10am. We eat breakfast much earlier than that, so the first morning we went elsewhere for our breakfast. We decided to ask if we could possibly have our breakfast earlier the next day, and they told us we could come at 8am, which was nice of them (quite a few others came early too), although it ended up being really disappointing (see paragraph above).

It was even more marvelous and impressive than described on the booking site. It’s a true jewel in the midst of downtown Palm Springs. It felt like being in a private Italian villa with only a few other guests. I was solo and felt fully at ease. They also treat you each evening to a glass of wine and delicious hors d’eouvres. The breakfast is fabulous. You feel like you are transported back to the 1950s with the service of 2025. The grounds are perfectly manicured and the rooms where you gather tastefully and authentically furnished. The staff makes you feel delightfully welcome. I will be back.

The atmosphere was lovely and the location very convenient. The staff friendly but I’m not sure it’s worth the price tag. The linens and pillows are better at the Hampton Inn. And my particular room (the garden room) definitely needed a new bed. (My friend staying in a different room said the same thing) I had to ask for a blow dryer. Waters in the room are only replaced upon request, so you have to ask for more water every day. In my opinion, after staying at other hotels, such as this, the amenities are much better Breakfast was very tasty and a good size. Turn down service is basically a treat on your pillow and fresh towel towels. The hors d’oeuvres at happy hour are very simple. If you need anything between 10pm and 7am you are out of luck as they do not have a front desk. No food service (room service) available on site other than breakfast and snacks at happy hour

We've stayed here for the last five years in a row, with other couples, all attending the Tour de Palm Springs bike festival. The overall 'wow' factor is fading and those extra bits that justified the high price are no longer here. Examples: wine happy hour - it used to come with gourmet food bites/tapes, such as proscuitto wrapped asparagus, and warm quiche bites etc... Now basically nothing. First night was some nuts and cheese (no longer brought to you - just left on a sideboard). Second night was a flatbread pizza (also left on the sideboard). Another example: we arrived at the happy hour 10 mins early and were told the only way we could have a glass of wine now was to buy a bottle (our 3 couple group pays over $2,000/night to stay here - so $4,000 for the weekend) - this was really cheap and cheesy. We caved and bought the wine - red was essentially hot - stored in the kitchen clearly. Turn down service: nothing happens other than a 50/50 shot at getting a chocolate or cookie on your bed. Newspapers at breakfast - no longer offered. Coffee service pre-breakfast: tough to come by now - no set up to get coffee from. Snacks in rooms: getting smaller - used to have chocolate covered raisens, plus many other goodies - now a small bag of nuts and pretzels. Still no HBO or movie channel. The room we stayed in had the laundry machines across the hall. The room service team would leave the door open as they did laundry so the loud noises, beeping, and chatting / commotion all afternoon long in there makes it hard to rest in the room. While the location can't be beat, and it is a lovely building, one just senses its suffering from attempts at cost cutting rather than doubling down on being better. We'll likely look elsewhere next year now.